ChatBuildWeb design agency or a website team for a monthly price?
What each costs in year one and over three years, how long each takes, what you keep when you leave, and when an agency is the better choice. Every agency figure links to its source.
In short
An agency costs more up front and takes weeks, but it builds exactly what you brief, can include brand strategy and custom features, and you can agree to receive the site itself. A website team for a monthly price, such as ChatBuild, costs nothing up front and makes your changes for you, but the site stays on its platform: when you leave, you keep your content and your domain, not the code. Over three years, ChatBuild Starter (€1,015 excl. VAT) costs less than the low end of the agency range in our sources (€2,800), and Pro (€2,765 excl. VAT) just under it.
Agency facts checked on 3 October 2026. ChatBuild's prices are excl. VAT.
| What you get | ChatBuild | Web design agency |
|---|---|---|
| Up-front cost | €0. No build fee. First month free — payment starts when you go live, or after 30 days. | A one-off project fee. For a small-business site: £2,000–£7,000 in the UK and $3,000–$10,000 in the US (Bark), €2,500–€6,000 in Ireland (Create108); $6,000–$20,000 at a boutique agency of 1–10 people (Pitchsite). [1][2][3][4] |
| Monthly cost | €29 (Starter), €79 (Pro) or €149 (Exclusive) a month excl. VAT, or €312, €852 or €1,608 a year excl. VAT. Hosting, SSL and changes by chat are included. | Hosting and upkeep come on top. For an agency-built UK site: hosting £20–£100 a month and a maintenance retainer of £100–£500 a month (ExpertSure). In Ireland, hosting alone costs €100–€500 or more a year (Create108). [5][3] |
| Year one, small site | €319 excl. VAT on Starter (up to 5 pages): the free month, then eleven months at €29. The domain is a separate yearly cost. | €2,600–€6,500 for an Irish small-business site: the €2,500–€6,000 build plus €100–€500 for hosting (Create108). Changes after launch come on top. [3] |
| Three years, small site | €1,015 excl. VAT on Starter with monthly billing: 35 paid months at €29. The domain is a separate yearly cost. | €2,800–€7,500 for the same Irish site: the build plus three years of hosting (Create108). Changes after launch come on top. [3] |
| Time to a first version | About an hour of your time to tell ChatBuild about your business, with no discovery or wireframe phase. You review the first version on a preview, and nothing goes live until you approve it. | Agency builds typically take 8–16 weeks (ExpertSure). Boutique agency packages run from 6 weeks for up to 8 pages to 8–10 weeks for up to 15 (Pitchsite). Bark, for web designers in general: 2–4 weeks for a simple site, 6–12 weeks or more for e-commerce or custom sites. [5][4][1] |
| Who does the work | ChatBuild's team and its AI. You answer questions in a short guided setup; the AI writes the copy and builds the site on ChatBuild's platform. Questions: usually within an hour on working days — from a human. | A team of designers, developers, project managers and strategists (ExpertSure). Agencies typically include discovery calls, wireframes, revision rounds and project management (Whito). [5][6] |
| Revisions while it's built | One free revision round on the first version, then your plan's monthly changes. | Most quotes include two or three rounds of revisions; beyond that, you pay extra (Whito). [6] |
| Changes after launch | 5 (Starter), 15 (Pro) or unlimited under fair use (Exclusive) changes a month, made within 2 working days, the next working day or the same working day. | Included in a retainer, or billed at £50–£100 an hour (ExpertSure). Agency hourly rates run at £60–£150 in the UK (Whito) and $100–$250 in the US (Pitchsite). [5][6][4] |
| Ownership and exit | When a subscription that has been paid at least once ends, you get an export of your texts, images and videos, and a transfer for every domain whose invoices are paid, within 14 days. The export does not include the site's code or a working copy. A domain follows its own payment. | Set by your contract: ask whether you receive the site's files, its code and the logins. Whito's UK price guide advises that you should own your website, your domain and your content. [6] |
| Domain | Not part of any plan. At go-live you buy one, connect one you own by DNS (free), or transfer one. A bought or transferred domain is its own yearly payment. | Registered by you, or by the agency for you. ExpertSure advises registering it yourself so you're never locked to one builder or agency; Whito: make sure you own it, not your web designer. [5][6] |
| Strategy and brand | Not part of the plans: no market research, brand strategy or new brand identity. ChatBuild builds from your answers, your photos and, if you have one, your current website. Exclusive adds a quarterly design refresh, a conversion review and a competitor check. | Often part of the work: full discovery, UX design and content strategy at mid-size agencies; brand strategy and bespoke design at London full-service agencies (ExpertSure). [5] |
| Contract and leaving | No minimum term. Leaving takes one e-mail to hi@chatbuild.com: a monthly plan ends with the paid month; a yearly plan needs the e-mail at least 14 days before it renews. | A project agreement. Pitchsite's guide for agencies recommends a written proposal covering scope, deliverables, revisions, timeline, payment schedule and maintenance options. [4] |
ChatBuild's prices are excl. VAT. Every other price is shown in the currency and tax basis its source uses, and most sources don't say whether VAT is included. We converted nothing. The numbers in brackets link to the sources at the bottom of this page.
What each costs over one and three years
To put both options in one currency, we used the only euro agency source we found: Create108's Irish price guide. The assumptions are the same for both: a five-page site for a service business, prices as published on 3 October 2026 with no rises, and the domain, copywriting, photography and paid changes left out.
- Agency-built small-business site (Ireland): €2,600–€6,500 in year one and €2,800–€7,500 over three years, build and hosting.
- ChatBuild Starter, up to 5 pages: €319 in year one and €1,015 over three years, excl. VAT.
- ChatBuild Pro, up to 15 pages: €869 in year one and €2,765 over three years, excl. VAT.
- ChatBuild Exclusive, unlimited pages under fair use: €1,639 in year one and €5,215 over three years, excl. VAT.
ChatBuild's totals use monthly billing, with the first month free. On yearly billing the plans cost 10% less: €312, €852 or €1,608 a year excl. VAT.
What the totals don't show: an agency build is paid once, so from year four you pay only for hosting and changes, while a monthly plan keeps running. ChatBuild's monthly price includes a set number of changes; an agency bills them per job, by the hour or through a retainer.
No build fee, no hourly rate — changes made for you
ChatBuild charges no build fee and no hourly rate. One monthly price, excl. VAT, covers the site, its hosting and a set number of changes a month, made for you when you send them by message. We don't put a multiple on the difference with an agency: agency prices vary too much for one number to hold.
Choose a web design agency if…
- you need a brand built from scratch, or research and strategy before design;
- the site needs custom features or integrations, such as booking tied to your own software, or a large web shop now;
- you want the site itself handed over, its files and code, so you can host and change it anywhere;
- you want to sit across the table from the people building it;
- you would rather pay once for the build than every month, and plan to keep the site for years.
Choose a website team for a monthly price if…
- you want no up-front bill, and a start that takes about an hour of your time;
- you expect small changes every month and would rather not make them yourself;
- your site is a clear set of pages with contact forms, rather than custom software;
- you're fine with the site running on the provider's platform, and with leaving meaning you take your content and your domain, not the code.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to what people ask most here.
Is a website subscription cheaper than a web design agency?
In the first years, usually. ChatBuild Starter costs €319 excl. VAT in year one and €1,015 over three years. An agency-built small-business site with hosting costs €2,600–€6,500 and €2,800–€7,500 in Ireland (Create108, June 2026). An agency build is paid once, though, so over longer periods, or on a larger plan, the gap closes or reverses.
Do I own my website with a website subscription?
Not the site itself. With ChatBuild, when a subscription that has been paid at least once ends, you get an export of your texts, images and videos, and a transfer for every domain whose invoices are paid, within 14 days. The export is your content, not the site's code or a working copy. With an agency, your contract decides.
How long does a web design agency take compared with a website subscription?
UK agency builds typically take 8–16 weeks (ExpertSure), and boutique agency packages 6–10 weeks (Pitchsite). An agency's timeline typically includes discovery, wireframes and revision rounds. With ChatBuild you spend about an hour telling us about your business, then refine the first version on a preview before it goes live.
What does a web design agency do that ChatBuild doesn't?
Research and brand strategy, a new brand identity, custom features and integrations, and handing over the site's code. ChatBuild builds from your answers, photos and current website on its own platform, and makes changes by chat within your plan. If you need any of those four, an agency is the better fit.
ChatBuildonlineHow we compared
On 3 October 2026 we opened every source listed below and took each figure as the page shows it, in its own currency and tax basis. We converted nothing; the one- and three-year totals use the only euro agency source we found.
Agencies quote per project, so we used published price ranges and timelines: Bark's UK and US price guides and the cost guides of Create108, ExpertSure, Pitchsite and Whito. We used no prices hidden behind a quote form and named no individual agency.
ChatBuild's prices and terms are the ones on our pricing page and in our terms, excl. VAT. ChatBuild sells a website team for a monthly price, so we are a party to this comparison. If a figure here is wrong or out of date, e-mail hi@chatbuild.com and we will check it and record the change in the update log below.
Sources
- Bark, Find Web Designers (UK price guide). Opened 3 October 2026.
- Bark, Find Web Designers (US price guide). Opened 3 October 2026.
- Create108, Website Cost Ireland 2026: Real Prices Explained (published 19 June 2026). Opened 3 October 2026.
- Pitchsite, Web Design Pricing Guide 2026: What Agencies & Freelancers Actually Charge. Opened 3 October 2026.
- ExpertSure, How Much Does a Website Cost UK 2026? Full Price Guide (prices verified August 2026). Opened 3 October 2026.
- Whito, Website Design Costs UK 2026 (May 2026 data, updated 25 September 2026). Opened 3 October 2026.
Update log
- : First edition. Every agency figure checked against its source that day.
- : ChatBuild's new plan prices: Starter €29, Pro €79 and Exclusive €149 a month, excl. VAT. Every ChatBuild total on this page recalculated; the agency figures are unchanged.
Want to see how it works for you?
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